Bag for carrying box-shaped objects

ABSTRACT

A bag for carrying boxes-shaped objects, preferably pizza boxes ( 15, 16 ), includes a rectangular bottom wall portion ( 1 ) side wall portions ( 3, 5 ) attached to the base wall portion ( 1 ) and handles ( 7 ) at opposite side wall portions ( 3 ). It is significant for the bag that two of the side wall portions ( 3, 5 ) constitute main side wall portions ( 3 ) that are opposite each other and extend along an entire edge of the bottom wall portion ( 1 ), and that at least two of the side wall portions constitute partial side wall portions ( 5 ) that extend only along a part of an edge of the bottom wall portion ( 1 ).

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a bag for carrying boxes-shapedobjects, preferably pizza boxes, said bag including a rectangular bottomwall portion, side wall portions attached to said bottom wall portionand handles at opposite side wall portions.

PRIOR ART

From WO 92/09493 a bag for carrying box-shaped objects is previouslyknown. The bag consists of a flexible material, e.g. a thermoplastic. Inconnection with the placement of a box-shaped object, preferably a pizzabox, in the bag the wall portions of the bag are folded sideways and thepizza box is lowered into the bag. Since also the wall portions consistof a flexible material it is difficult to introduce the pizza box in thebag in a simple way. In this connection it should be considered that theoperator holds the pizza box with both hands. If the carrying personputs down the bag the side wall portions will fall down and it might bea problem to grab both handles with only one hand.

From U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,884 a bag for carrying box-shaped objects ispreviously known, said bag consisting of a flexible material and the bagmay be brought to assume a flat position in connection with theintroduction of the box-shaped object into the bag. Then two oppositeside wall portions are displaced laterally, in a direction from eachother, and subsequently said side wall portions are pulled upwards toenclose the box-shaped object. In connection with this procedure theremust be a sufficient large space available apart from the space that isoccupied by the box-shaped object. If the carrying person puts down thebag the side wall portions will fall down and it might be a problem tograb both handles with only one hand.

From DE 298 12 168 U1 a device for carrying one or more box-shapedobjects is previously known. In principle, the device constitutes astrap that is provided with openings on one hand for two oppositecorners of the package and on the other hand for creating carryinghandles. A very significant problem in connection with the deviceaccording to DE 298 12 168 U1 is that if the carrying person puts awaythe device with the box-shaped packages, the ends of the strap will falldown on the ground. Then it could be a problem for the carrying personto get hold of these ends by using only one hand.

OBJECTS AND FEATURES OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to present a bag of thetype defined above, said bag being very user friendly, i.e. it shouldboth be simple to place the box-shaped objects in the bag and also toremove said objects from the bag. The bag should also be simple totransfer from stored position to active position. When the carryingperson puts away the bag it should be simple for him/her to again gripthe handles of the bag.

Still an object of the present invention is that the bag should requirea small space in stored position.

A further object of the present invention is to manufacture the bag froma material that could be recycled.

At least the primary object of the present invention is realised bymeans of a bag that has been given the features defined in the adherentindependent claim 1. Preferred embodiments are defined in theindependent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Below an embodiment of the invention will be described, reference beingmade to the enclosed drawings, where:

FIG. 1 shows the bag according to the present invention in folded,stored position;

FIG. 2 shows the bag according to FIG. 1 in an intermediate positionbetween folded and erected position;

FIG. 3 shows a bag according to the invention in erected position, anumber of pizza boxes being positioned in the bag; and

FIG. 4 shows how a carrying person grips the bag according to theinvention in connection with carrying the bag.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

As is evident from FIGS. 1 and 2 the bag according to the presentinvention comprises a bottom wall portion 1, two main side wall portions3, four partial side wall portions 5 and two handles 7. Each one of themain side wall portions 3 are connected to the bottom wall portion 1 viaa first fold line 9. Each one of the partial side wall portions 5 areconnected on one hand to the bottom wall portion 1 and on the other handto an adjacent main side wall portion 3. The connection to the bottomwall portion 1 is effected via a second fold line 10 and to the mainside wall portion 3 via a third fold line 11. As is evident from FIGS.2–4 each partial side wall portion 5 has an extension only along a partof the adjacent edge of the bottom wall portion 1. This means that afree space is created between two partial side wall portions 5 that areattached to a common edge of the bottom wall portion 1. In the shownembodiment the partial side wall portions 5 have an extension along saidedge that is less than ⅓ of the length of the edge. The function of thisfree space will be evident from the description below.

The handles 7 are connected to the main side wall portions 3 in the areaof the free edge of the main side wall portions 3, said connectionpreferably being effected by means of an adhesive.

In folded position of the bag according to the present invention themain side wall portions 3 in principle abut the bottom wall portion 1.From FIG. 2 it is evident that each of the partial side wall portions 5is equipped with an intermediate fourth fold line 12. In folded positionof the bag the partial side wall portions 5 will be doubled around saidfourth fold line 12. In folded position of the bag, see FIG. 1, thehandles 7 are folded to abut against the main side wall portions 3.

The function of the bag according to the present invention will now bedescribed. When the bag according to the present invention is to be usedit is normally in folded, stored position according to FIG. 1. The bagthen occupies an extremely small space and is preferably stackable. Insuch a case the main side wall portions 3 abut the bottom wall portion 1and the handles 7 abut the main side wall portions 3. In order to bringthe bag according to the present invention to resume an active positionsaid bag should be transferred from folded position to erected position.In this connection reference being made to FIG. 2 that shows the bagaccording to the present invention in a position between folded anderected. In connection therewith the main side wall portions 3 have lefttheir abutment against the bottom wall portion 1 and the partial sidewall portions 5 are about to assume an erected plane state, the erectionbeing effected around the second fold line 10, the third fold line 11and the fourth fold line 12.

In FIG. 3 the bag according the present invention is shown in erectedposition. Therewith the main side wall portions 3 and the partial sidewall portions 5 have an extension essentially perpendicular to thebottom wall portion 1. The handles 7 are also erected and extendupwards. In this connection it should also be pointed out that in theshown embodiment the handles are attached on the inner side of the mainside wall portions 3.

In FIG. 3 it is illustrated how two pizza boxes, one higher 15 and onelower 16, are placed in the bag on its bottom wall portion 1. This maybe effected in an extremely simple way due to the presence of the abovementioned free spaces between the partial side wall portions 5 along acommon edge of the bottom wall portion 1. The free spaces makes itpossible for the hands of the operator, said hands gripping around thepizza boxes 15, 16, to reach all the way down to the bottom wall portion1 in order to place the boxes 15, 16 on the bottom wall portion 1. Whenthe pizza boxes 15, 16 are placed on the bottom wall portion 1 of thebag according to the present invention the bag may be carried away.Thereby the carrying person grips the two handles 7 by one hand, seeFIG. 4. In this connection it should be pointed out that it is importantthat the handles 7 have a sufficient extension, i.e. the distancebetween the gripping part of the handles 7 and the adjacent oppositeedge of the main side wall portion 3 should be more than half of thecross section dimension of the bottom wall portion 1. In case thehandles 7 have a too small extension the bag will tighten in the area ofthe handles 7 and it may also occur that the bag squeezes the box/boxes15, 16 that is/are located in the bag.

If there is a need to put down the bag, e.g. in connection with theopening of a car door, this may be done without problems. The carryingperson quite simply puts the bag down on the ground and the bag inprinciple assumes the position shown in FIG. 3. When the carrying personwants to repeat the lifting of the bag he/she only grips the handles 7that are in erected position. In this connection it should be pointedout that when handling the bag according to the present invention,whether it is in folded or erected position, the only required area onthe ground in principle corresponds to the area that a pizza boxoccupies on the ground.

The material of the bag according to the present invention should be arelatively stiff paper, e.g. of the type that is used in so-called paperbags/paper carriers. When the bag has been transferred from folded toerected position the bag should remain in the erected position, see FIG.3. This functional demand brings about that the paper in the bag shouldhave a certain degree of stiffness.

In the shown embodiment the height of the main side wall portions 3 isless than half the cross section dimension of the bottom wall portion 1that in principle is in the shape of a square.

The partial side wall portions 5 should, at least in the area where theyjoin the main side wall portions, have a corresponding height.

Feasible Modifications of the Invention

A basic principle of the present invention is to create a free spacealong two opposite edges of the bottom wall portion 1. However, withinthe scope of the present invention, the shape and size of the free spacemay vary as long as it fulfils its function, i.e. to allow access allthe way down to the bottom wall portion 1 when a box shaped object isplaced in the bag or removed from the bag.

In the embodiment described above the bag has four partial side wallportions 5. However, within the scope of the present invention it isalso feasible that the bag has only two partial side wall portions thatextend along about half the length of the adherent side edge of thebottom wall portion. In this case the partial side wall portions arepreferably arranged diagonally in relation to the bottom wall portion 1.Thereby support is given for both main side wall portions 3 when theyare erected. As pointed out above it is however important that that thefree space that is created along an edge of the bottom wall portion issufficiently large to allow the handling that is illustrated in FIG. 3,i.e. that there is room for the hands of the person that takes care ofthe placement of pizza boxes in the bag and also removal of pizza boxesfrom the bag.

1. A bag for carrying box-shaped objects, the bag comprising: anuninterrupted rectangular bottom wall portion being defined by only fourlongitudinal edges, two main side wall portions that each extend alongopposite ones of said longitudinal edges, at least two partial side wallportions that each extend along only part of opposite ones of the otherof said longitudinal edges, the main side wall portions and partial sidewall portions being foldable, and handles attached to said opposite sidewall portions; wherein the main side wall portions extend along anentire edge of the bottom wall portion, and partial side wall portionsextend only along a part of an edge of the bottom wall portion, saidpartial side wall portions having a height which is substantially equalto that of the main side wall portions.
 2. The bag according to claim 1,wherein there are two partial side wall portions on each of therespective side edges, and a free space extends between two partial sidewall portions along a common edge of the bottom wall portion.
 3. The bagaccording to claim 2, wherein one of the partial side wall portions hasan extension along the common edge that is less than one third of theentire length of the common edge.
 4. The bag according to claim 3,wherein said bag is manufactured from paper, and the side wall portionsare attached to the bottom wall portion via fold lines.
 5. The bagaccording to claim 2, wherein said bag is manufactured from paper, andthe side wall portions are attached to the bottom wall portion via foldlines.
 6. The bag according to claim 1, wherein said bag is manufacturedfrom paper, and the side wall portions are attached to the bottom wallportion via fold lines.
 7. The bag according to claim 1, wherein themain side wall portions and adjacent partial side wall portions arejoined by a fold line.
 8. The bag according to claim 1, wherein thebottom wall portion is a square having equal sides.
 9. The bag accordingto claim 8, wherein the main side wall portions have a height that isless than half the dimension of a side of the square bottom wallportion.
 10. The bag according to claim 9, wherein the handles have agripping part, and the distance between the gripping part and theadjacent opposite edge of the main side wall portion is slightly greaterthan one half of the dimension of a side of the square bottom wallportion.
 11. The bag according to claim 8, wherein the handles have agripping part, and the distance between the gripping part and anadjacent opposite edge of the main side wall portion is slightly greaterthan one half of the dimension of a side of the square bottom wallportion.